Exploring the history of chocolate Easter bunnies, to ecstasy-filled candies in Belgium

Chocolate bunny emerging from a shellPhoto byDaniel K CheungonUnsplash

Belgium is known for its chocolate, so a shipment of chocolate Easter bunnies traveling through the airport is not a surprise. But this week, a Brussels airport inspector found something a little extra when he scanned a batch of chocolate bunnies.

Per CBS news, “A batch of rabbits seized this week by veteran customs officer Pol Meuleneire was crafted from a solid lump of MDMA, the raw material for pills of the rave drug ecstasy. Meuleneire, who retires in a few months after 43 years in Belgium's customs service,” used a handheld scanner “which uses Raman spectroscopy to identify substances by their chemical fingerprint -- against a chocolate rabbit and took a reading.”

The false chocolate bunnies had been parceled up and posted in Belgium, addressed to a buyer in Hong Kong, but were intercepted at the Brussels airport freight terminal.

Meuleneire states, “The screen flashed green and the analysis was clear: ‘Caution: MDMA (ecstasy).’” He estimated the quantity of MDMA to be, “one or two kilograms…With one kilogram you make six thousand ecstasy pills."

cocao beansPhoto byPablo Merchán MontesonUnsplash

As we all know, chocolate, with its endorphin-inducing properties, is transforming even without the addition of ecstasy. Put it in a bunny shape and you add fun to an already intoxicating treat.

Easter bunnyPhoto byKenny EliasononUnsplash

ChocolateFetish.com offers history on the Easter Bunny. “In medieval Europe the rabbit was a popular symbol for spring because of its fecundity. A German legend said that after a long winter’s sleep an Easter bunny would lay bright-colored eggs in the grass for good children to find.”

Where did the tradition of chocolate bunnies at Easter start? Fox News provides an answer. “First-generation German-American Robert Strohecker dreamed bigger and sweeter than any candy salesman before him. He’s known in confectioner’s lore as the Father of the Chocolate Easter Bunny.”

period photo of small villagePhoto byAnnie SprattonUnsplash

In 1890 he used a marketing technique that changed history. He displayed a “massive 5-foot-tall (or perhaps even taller) solid chocolate rabbit outside Pennsylvania retailers…to popularize smaller versions of his new Easter sweets born of German tradition.” It’s estimated that “Strohecker’s legendary 5-foot-tall Easter bunny of solid chocolate weighed 400 to 500 pounds and would cost $10,000 today to make.”

Clearly his idea was worth it, as roughly ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced worldwide every year.

Though you can purchase solid chocolate bunnies (I recall happy childhood memories of gnawing on them Easter morning) the majority of those produced and purchased are hollow. “One major reason Chocolate Bunnies are made hollow is that once a piece of chocolate is over about ½ inch thick it becomes nearly impossible to bite into and enjoy. Making bunnies hollow allows chocolatiers to make them larger for visual impact but still enjoyable to eat. The practice of making bunnies hollow gained popularity in America during WWII cocoa rationing. Hollow bunnies could be produced using far less chocolate than their solid counterparts.”